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Posted on Fri, Jan. 14, 2005 Killed in Iraq, G.I. felt war was rightBy G.W. MILLER IIICourtesy of Philly News

For his 63rd birthday on January 3, 2005, James
Smith received a call from his son who was stationed in Iraq.

Smith chatted with his offspring, U.S. Army
Specialist Michael J. Smith, about how uch he was enjoying his tour of
duty.

"He believed in the war, what he was doing,"
said the elder Smith, who lives in Coatesville. "He felt it was necessary
to be there, to help those people get out from under the dictatorship."

It was their last conversation.

On Tuesday, Smith, 24, died when a rocket-propelled
grenade hit his military vehicle in Ar Ramadi, Iraq.

Smith is among the latest of the 1,356 American
soldiers who have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the Department
of Defense.

"He was very proud of what he was doing," said
James Smith. "And I am really proud of him."

The younger Smith grew up in Springfield, Delaware
County, and attended Springfield High School.

"He wore all black and had bright-red hair
down to his butt," James Warrington, 37, Smith's brother, said of his brother's
pre-service days.

Smith loved baseball and video games, and spent
summers in Ocean City, N.J. He was also a member of a rock 'n' roll band
for a while.

"He didn't play an instrument," Smith's father
said with a laugh. "He sang or screamed, I guess."

Warrington, who now serves in the National
Guard, said Smith had dropped out of high school shortly after their mother
died in 1995.

Smith had several jobs before obtaining his
GED and joining the service in November 2002.

"The Army was a good change for him," said
Warrington. "It turned him around."

He said he last saw his brother, who was planning
a career in the military, in June during a family wedding.

"He looked the same except for the short hair,"
Warrington said.

Smith was tall - about 6-feet-3 - and thin.

"You could push him over with a stick, he was
that skinny," Warrington said. "But I don't think anything scared him."

Smith's battalion was stationed in South Korea
and was deployed to Iraq last August for a 12-month tour. Smith's father
said that his son had served in the honor guard and was a driver before
becoming an infantryman.

Smith was scheduled to go to Air Assault School
- to learn how to jump from helicopters - but plans were postponed when
his unit was sent to Iraq.

"He was really looking forward to that," Warrington
said.

While stationed in Korea, Smith met his future
wife, Oksana, a Russian native. Less than one month before being sent to
Iraq, the couple married.

"We told him he was crazy," said Warrington.
"Then he showed us pictures and she was very good-looking!"

Smith's wife and stepson are still in Korea.

Funeral arrangements have not been made. Warrington
said that the family was working towards having Smith interred at Arlington
National Cemetery.

Warrington is planning on traveling to Kuwait
or Germany so he can accompany his brother on the flight home.

On a day when Michael J. Smith’s commander
in chief praised American servicemen and women for "the dangerous and necessary
work of fighting our enemies," family and friends attended the funeral
of the 24-year-old Army specialist who died January 11, 2005, from injuries
sustained in a roadside grenade attack in Iraq.

"I am just thinking about how much I’m going
to miss him," Lauren Conaway, Smith’s friend, said after the Thursday morning
funeral Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Church.

White-gloved soldiers escorted Smith’s flag-draped
coffin in and out of the church to the wail of bagpipes that spilled into
the streets Smith roamed as a youngster growing up on East Springfield
Road. A member of the Army’s 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry
Division, Smith will be laid to rest with full military honors this afternoon
in Arlington National Cemetery.

"The support we have received from family,
friends and strangers has been absolutely incredible," said Jim Warrington,
Smith’s stepbrother and a full-time member of the Pennsylvania National
Guard. "They have been offering their condolences and asking what they
can do to help. The people of Springfield remember him from parades and
(Springfield Athletic Association) baseball. You really find out what kind
of a family town it is when something like this happens."

According to a military press release, Smith
was "conducting security and stability operations" in Ar Ramadi, a city
located about 70 miles from Baghdad, when his Hummer was struck by a rocket-propelled
grenade. His father, James H. Smith of Coatesville, had received a birthday
call from his son eight days earlier in which the younger Smith expressed
pride in the work he was doing in Iraq.

A Springfield High School dropout who lost
his mother, Nancy, to cancer in 1995, Smith earned a GED and joined the
Army in November 2002, determined to find the focus that had been lacking
in his life. "I definitely tried to talk him out of it, but he wanted to
better his life," said Conaway, who read an excerpt from the book of Daniel
at the mass.

"He told me how proud his father was and how
he was proud of himself and interested in what he was doing for the first
time in a while."

Conaway said Smith told her he "didn’t believe
in what Bush was doing politically, but he believed in defending the country
and helping the Iraqi people."

Though he was the grandson of a World War II
veteran with uncles who served in Beirut and Vietnam, Michael Smith was
far from Army material in his mid-to-late teens, when he had hair down
to his waist, a goatee, and sang in a band.

"He was thinking of a career in the Army before
he got married last summer," Warrington said. "He probably would have done
another tour, received a promotion to sergeant, and gone off to college.
He was a pretty smart kid."

Smith was stationed in Korea when his unit
was sent to Iraq for a 12-month deployment in August. A month before leaving
for Iraq, he married a Russian woman, Oxsana, whom he met during his time
in Korea. Warrington expects Oxsana, who has a son in Russia, to move to
the U.S.

"Though we hadn’t met until this week, she’s
family now," he said. "After the (burial), we will turn our attention to
taking care of her and her son."

More than 1,380 U.S. servicemen and women have
been killed in Operation Enduring Freedom, including 40 this month. Since
Michael Smith’s death, two other members of his unit have been killed in
explosions. Smith, who most recently resided in Upper Providence, was the
first Delaware County resident to be killed in Operation Enduring Freedom.

"His platoon sergeant called us today during
the wake and said he was going to send us pictures and video from the memorial
they had for him in the desert," Warrington said.

Warrington said the family will be presented
with a handful of medals at Arlington, including the Combat Infantryman’s
Badge, Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal and the Army Commendation
Medal.

"He was married, and all parts of his life
were going good," said state Rep. Bill Adolph, R-165, a longtime friend
of the Smith family. "Unfortunately, when you are fighting for freedom,
some people pay the ultimate sacrifice. That’s what Mike did, and we thank
him for it."

During the homily, the Rev. Salvatore M. Riccio,
who recalled baptizing Smith 23 years ago, said Smith would never be forgotten.
"Specialist Michael Smith, son, husband, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin,
fellow soldier and friend, we thank you for your life and your light,"
he said.

When Michael J. Smith died January 11, 2005,
in the service of his country, the war in Iraq came home to Springfield.

Township commissioners honored Smith at Tuesday
night’s meeting with a resolution citing his dedication to liberty, his
role in fostering freedom and for making the ultimate sacrifice.

Specialist Michael J. Smith, 24, served in
the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army.
In that capacity, he was coming into his own, said his father, James Smith.

‘‘I got a nice letter from his Sergeant, saying
Mike was a leader. The Army was giving him some direction. I talked to
him every two weeks or so. He said, ‘I’m doing what I’m trained to do,’
and he was proud of that,’’ said Smith.

The outpouring of support from Michael’s hometown
has provided comfort to James Smith, now of Coatesville, and Mike’s stepbrother,
Jim Warrington, a Sergeant in the Pennsylvania National Guard.

‘‘Many of Mike’s friends came to the service
(held at St. Francis of Assisi), and they also made the trip down to Arlington
National Cemetery for the burial,’’ said Warrington, indicating his appreciation
for that effort.

Smith was remembered at different stages in
different ways. Steve Crowe spoke about the years Smith was involved with
the Springfield Athletic Association, but he told commissioners and the
family another tribute was planned.

‘‘Every year on Memorial Day the Springfield
A.A. has a mile walk from Haldeman Field to the high school. Along the
way, we put placards in the ground to remember members who have died. From
this year on, the placard for Mike will be the first one along the walk.
As Mike’s elementary school principal said,‘He’s one of our guys.’ ’’

The personal memories are spread around Springfield.
Warrington recalled a day in 1991 when he went to Scenic Hills Elementary
School.

‘‘Mike was about 11. I was in uniform. We planted
a tree in the back of the school in honor of Gulf War soldiers,’’ he recalled.
‘‘When I called the newspaper here, the secretary remembered Mike’s mom
and grandmother. And when I stopped in the Wawa on Saxer Avenue, I ran
into the mother of one of Mike’s best friends.’’

Smith’s gentle personality was most often mentioned.
He was, plain and simple, a nice kid.

‘‘Mike’s attitude was very positive for the
six months he was in Iraq,’’ said his father. ‘‘He was looking forward
to the elections. He liked the people, and saw the good side of what was
going on. That’s something you don’t hear much about.’’

Smith had very much found a place in the world.

He had married a Russian woman he’d met while
stationed in South Korea.

He was expecting to return to Fort Carson,
Colorado, when his tour expired this summer.

His father thought he was likely to re-enlist.

‘‘In the spring, we are going to plant a tree
in honor of Michael somewhere on the grounds of the township building,’’
said commissioners President Thomas Mahoney.

James Smith replied, ‘‘That will be forever.’’
SMITH, MICHAEL JAMESSPC US ARMYVETERAN SERVICE DATES: 01/11/2001 - 01/11/2005DATE OF BIRTH: 10/13/1980DATE OF DEATH: 01/11/2005DATE OF INTERMENT: 01/21/2005BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 8092ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY